~Short Story~
*Strong Language Warning*
“Hey come hang out this evening?” Steve texted Paul. “We never see you anymore ya hermit!”
Paul groaned and rubbed his hand vigorously against the back of his head. It had been a long time since he had been cornered by Steve. Not to imply Paul didn’t like Steve. They were best friends after all. It was more that Paul resented how he would be treated once he got there. It was always the same thing lately, and Paul was near the end of his very limited patience.
Paul stood up and paced for a bit, looking at the screen of his phone. He typed a reply, re-read it, then deleted it and continued pacing. Paul was not highly adept with communicating even on the best of days and found texting a particularly challenging medium to grapple with. Often becoming frustrated with how little information he was able to accumulate from such a ridiculously short means of conversation. It was a constant challenge to suss out what people actually meant, what their tone was, or even what the implications their words might have.
Paul groaned again, sat down rather quickly and hammered out a reply, and sent it off before he could think better of it, “ok” it said.
Grunting gutturally Paul stood up to pace a bit more, rubbing the back of his head again. “Fuuuuuck me” he groaned out.
Being a man of his word Paul was now committed to spending the evening with Steve and Cindy. Paul stopped pacing closed his eyes and snapped his right fingers 10 times. He sighed then went off to ready himself for the evening.
During his drive over Paul did his best not to roleplay the evening too many times in his head. Three or four run-throughs were enough to be prepared for the most likely scenarios that would arise. One could never really think through all of the possibilities, as hard as Paul might try. By the time he pulled up to Steve’s house his hands were sweaty with nerves.
Reaching Steve’s front door, Paul took a pause to compose himself. Rubbing his wet hands on his pant leg before he rang the doorbell. Which was immediately answered by loud angry barking. Paul’s heart leaped into his throat. Worse he then heard Cindi scream, “Steve! Shut those fuckin dogs up!”
Steve’s apology followed and then further yelling to try and quiet the protective pooches.
“Oh god” muttered Paul, this was not a scenario he had imagined.
Finally making it to the door Steve pulled it open looking a touch flustered but still happy to see Paul. He reached in for a hug and Paul instinctively hesitated for just a moment before accepting the gesture. Steve was one of the few people who was allowed to be that intimate with Paul.
“It’s good to see ya bro!” Steve said as they released their embrace. “It’s been way too long” Steve stepped back and gently smacked Paul’s back a few times for good measure. Paul was always surprised by how disarming Steve was. His nerves were very slowly melting away.
Leading the way into the house Steve explained in a whisper that Cindi had been working nights and was trying to catch up on some sleep. Paul’s stomach dropped in horror having woken her up. He often got the impression she did not much appreciate Paul’s antics to begin with. Having directly inconvenienced her sleep filled him with a sort of cringe-inducing dread. Paul apologized profusely, but Steve was again disarmingly nonchalant about it.
“We’ll go hang out with the pups in the back,” Steve said stopping at the fridge to grab a couple cold IPAs. Paul followed Steve through the very big and well-furnished house. Steve had done very well for himself over the years. Not being all that skilled, he managed to climb up a corporate ladder with good looks and very natural charisma. Not to say he didn’t work hard, he absolutely slaved, but his god-given talents were largely schmoozy.
When the dogs noticed them coming through the back door, they bolted over to offer their excited slobbery greetings. Paul knelt down and enthusiastically scratched both of the big rottweilers. He had a certain way with animals, especially dogs. They eagerly hopped around and over one another to be first in line for butt scratches and belly rubs.
“These guys missed you too eh Paul?” Steve said pulling out his phone which started ringing. He looked at it, considered it for a second, then explained he had to take this one. Paul nodded and Steve excused himself back inside.
Paul did his best not to think about it and tried to distract his mind with his genuine enjoyment of playing with the two big dogs. Minutes passed as Paul teased the dogs and chased them around the yard. More and more the minutes went by, 10, 15, finally 20. Though he was enjoying his puppy time Paul’s mood was souring. A few unpleasant thoughts had started circling around in Paul’s head when Steve finally joined him again. “Sorry man, work has been crazy…” Steve trailed off as his phone dinged and once again conquered his full attention.
Paul looked down frustration building within him, he started rubbing the back of his head.
“How have things been over here?” Paul asked, now somewhat sheepish. Steve was replying to a text or an email and gave him a distracted “Pretty good man, works been crazy.”
“Yeah, I’d heard that somewhere,” Paul muttered almost under his breath. It didn’t matter though Steve wasn’t paying attention. His phone had dinged twice more. Paul sighed heavily and started pacing around the backyard. Frustration growing and growing. He was rubbing his head and snapping his right fingers. Pacing, pacing, pacing trying to excise the ugly feeling that was bubbling up.
Paul stopped, closed his eyes snapped his right fingers ten times, and went home without saying goodbye. It was too painful.
Dust In The Mountain 